Generally, vehicles include a wiper as a device to remove rain or snow from a windshield glass. The wiper is driven by a motor according to a user's manipulation of a wiper control switch, and the wiper installed external to the windshield glass removes the rain or snow on the windshield glass while wiping back and forth in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction in a predetermined angle according to the driving of the motor.
FIG. 1 illustrates a wiper control apparatus.
Referring to FIG. 1, the wiper control apparatus includes a motor 101 to drive a wiper (not shown), an electronic controller 102 to control the motor 101, a relay 103 connecting the motor 101 to the electronic controller 102, and a multifunction switch 104 connected to the relay 103 and the motor 101 to drive the motor 101 and operate additional functions related to the operation of the wiper.
The electronic controller 102 is operated by a vehicle key (not shown), and the relay 103 is disposed between the vehicle key and the electronic controller 102.
The multifunction switch 104 controls the speed and direction of the motor 101, whether to eject a washer fluid to a windshield glass, and the turning on and off of a headlamp.
An operation of the wiper control apparatus having the above-described structure will be described below.
When a user turns the vehicle key to an ignition-2 position (ON position) 105, the electronic controller 102 is in a state that can operate the wiper.
At this point, a manipulation state of a wiper switch 107 is sensed by the electronic controller 102, and the electronic controller 102 operates the relay 103 to connect the motor 101 to the multifunction switch 104. The multifunction switch 104 controls the motor 101 to adjust the speed and reciprocation cycle of the wiper.
The wiper is stopped when power from the wiper driving motor 101 is removed.
However, when the user locks the vehicle in a state where the wiper is stopped at a certain position of the windshield glass of the vehicle, the wiper is kept in the stopped state on the windshield glass. Thus, the user typically must get into the vehicle and turn the vehicle key to the ON position in order to reposition the wiper.
Moreover, since the user cannot stop the wiper at a desired position under the operation of the wiper, it is difficult to perform work such as a wiper blade replacement work.